Brookfield Central Class of 2017

Victoriya Tarakanova is a recent Lancer graduate who has been making waves in the strategy consulting industry.

Tarakanova began her Elmbrook education at Wisconsin Hills before attending Brookfield Central. While at Central, she played girls hockey, ran cross country, competed in martial arts and Varsity Debate, and was named state champion in DECA. Victoriya highlighted counselor Greg Groh and computer science teacher Ryan Osterberg for their kindness, patience, empathy, hard work and constant support that has left a lasting impact on her education and life. "I love the lasting connections and community at Central," said Tarakanova, "it's an incredible learning environment where I always feel welcome."

After graduating from BC in 2017, Victoriya began attending the University of Minnesota, but as her interests varied her academic path had not been chosen yet. After some coursework, she became incredibly interested in strategy consulting and started aiming for the top levels of the industry in order to make the most world impact and gain the most valuable experiences. Along the way, she has led, developed, and handed-off multiple student-run consulting organizations including U-Finance, a financial consulting organization; Design U, a design consultancy; and 180 Degrees Consulting, a management consulting group. 

"Most big strategy consulting groups typically recruit from Ivy League schools, so I wanted to work hard and show that I have the capacity to make a significant impact in the field," said Tarakanova. A few months ago, her perseverance and dedication paid off and she was fortunate to sign a job offer with Boston Consulting Group, one of the global Big 3 strategy consulting firms, following graduation.

Victoriya is set to graduate in 2021 with a double-major in Marketing and Management Information Systems and double minors in Finance and Interdisciplinary Design, as well as additional military science coursework.

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